The first warm episode of the summer, which could become the first heat wave if it lasts in time and intensity, will last until next Wednesday and will bring a lot of heat. According to the forecast of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), temperatures of at least 40 degrees will be reached in areas of the center and south of the peninsula, and even Córdoba would reach 45 degrees next Monday.

“The situation of general stability, which will favor strong insolation, together with the entry of a mass of very warm air from North Africa, will lead to a progressive increase in temperatures in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, mainly between Thursday and on Sunday, reaching values ??that are clearly higher than normal at this time of year and that will remain for a good part of next week,” the agency explains in its forecast.

The agency does not rule out that this episode will become “the first heat wave of this summer of 2023, as temperatures will continue to rise in the coming days in most of Spain”, according to Rubén del Campo, Aemet spokesman. .

The area where the heat will hit the hardest will be the southwestern and central peninsular quadrants, with maximum temperatures that probably exceed 38 degrees, exceeding 40 or 42 in areas of the Guadalquivir and Guadiana valleys.

The problem will not only be in the highs, but in the lows. Tropical nights with lows above 20 or 22 degrees are expected in large areas from Thursday. And it is likely that during the first days of next week, the maximum and minimum temperatures will remain at the aforementioned values.

This episode of heat will also affect the rest of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, but in a more moderate way. In Galicia and the Cantabrian coast, the maximums will reach values ??higher than normal until Saturday, when they could exceed 34 or 36 degrees in areas of the Miño valley, according to Aemet.

On Sunday there will be a breather, but only in the extreme northwest of the peninsula. In the rest of the Peninsula, the rise in temperatures will continue until Sunday, when it is likely that it will exceed 36 degrees in areas of the northern and inland plateau of Mallorca, and 38 degrees in parts of the Ebro valley.

The high point of the episode will be next week and it will foreseeably last until Wednesday: “From this date, but with the due uncertainty associated with the longer prediction period, a general drop in temperatures could take place, which would once again reach own values ??at the end of June”, clarifies the agency.